Assessment 3 – Written essay
Word limit: 3000 words +/- 10% .
The written assessment will be in two parts.
Part 1 Assessment 3 – Outline/Draft (10%)
Part 1 requires a draft or outline essay submission, outlining topic, approach, structure and proposed content to be identified, and submitted to the Turnitin PART 1-Draft/Outline box.
Students are being assessed on their ability to evaluate IPC practices etc, against a known standard, guidelines and the literature, interpret those findings, design an appropriate intervention, supported by the literature, implement that intervention, and then evaluate whether those changes have been effective.
Part 2 Assessment 3 – Final Essay submission (50%)
A mark (out of 100) will be provided for this assessment and students need to achieve 50/100 for this assessment to complete the Course. Assessment 3 (Part 1 + Part 2) will contribute 60% to the overall Course grade..
Specific guidance for Assessment 3
Part 1
The draft/outline essay should be submitted on or before 4 weeks before the course deadline. This date is clearly shown in the course front page.
A maximum two A4 pages font size 12, spacing 1.5, which consists of dot points with proposed relevant content, for each of the required headings should be submitted to the Turnitin Assessment 3 section, on the Draft Submission tab. Students may include a short paragraph of academic writing within the 2 pages of text as outlined above, if they wish. There should also be a minimum of 3 references correctly formatted in APA7 style.
Part 2
The final essay for marking is due on or before the course deadline. A late penalty of 10% will be deducted from the total grade for each day the submission is late without an approved extension, from the Course deadline, or approved extension, resubmission date. Students who have exceptional or extenuating circumstances may apply for an extension.
Word limit: 3000 words +/- 10%
Description
A critical evaluation of an infection prevention and control practice, or a procedure.
- Read the essay question several times and identify the key words and concepts, chose a topic that allows you most scope in demonstrating the learning outcomes for the Course in your writing. This means that the topics of each module will have some relevance to a good topic.
- Read all instructions and guides. After identifying key words read all the instructions and review the marking guide. The marking guide and instructions will give you information about how to format the essay and will provide you with information regarding the structure of the essay.
- Start early. Essay writing takes time. Realistically you cannot expect to write an essay in a couple of days and get high marks. Ideas take time to develop. Even the best authors and all of those scholarly journal articles are the process of large amounts of time and multiple drafts.
- Write a draft/outline plan. (See the guidance for Part 1 and Part 2 of Assessment 3. All essays have a beginning (introduction), a middle (body of the essay) and an ending (conclusion). Plan what you are going to write in the middle sections. What you write in the middle sections, under the required headings will be guided by the instructions and marking guide.
- Begin writing your ideas down in week one or two. As you work through the modules you will come across information that will go into your essay. So begin by writing down ideas, notes from your modules, weblinks, or journals that could assist with your essay. In doing so you will see your essay plan grow from a few ideas to suddenly having descriptions, examples and evidence (resources).
- After submitting your PART 1 Draft/Outline to the relevant submission box, to receive comments on your proposed topic, approach and content, and a grade out of 10.
- Write the first full draft. A good essay needs several attempts, so write your first full draft. It will need an introduction, the body and a conclusion. After you have wrote your first draft, don’t look at it for a day or so. WHY? If you look at a draft immediately after writing it, you wont pick up on errors or things that don’t make sense, as your brain is still focused on the writing, and thought patterns that led to writing.
- Read your draft aloud and begin revising it. When you read aloud you will naturally pick up on things that don’t make sense or grammatical errors. For instance, if when reading a sentence you run out of breath, it suggests that a sentence is too long. A breath is like a full stop . or a comma , You might find you change the order of paragraphs or sentences. Re-write individual sentences to make the meaning clearer.
- Have a colleague, relative or friend read your work. As scary as this sounds, if they don’t understand what you are trying to say, it may be that your marker will not either! Remember that you cannot present anyone else’s work as your own, as it may constitute a breach of academic integrity.
- Edit and revise again…and again.. and again. Remember quality takes time. Essay writing is not entirely natural and takes lots of practice. Marks can easily be lost because meaning is unclear, or due to poor spelling and grammar.
- Referencing and citations. Take time to ensure all of the authors, websites and sources are correctly included in your essay and reference lists.
- Prepare your essay for submission. Ensure you have inserted the Assignment Coversheet as the first page of your document. Then on the second page write the title and first heading (Introduction) and so forth through the essay. Now submit your assessment using the instructions in the Assessment 3 Submission section. . Please keep a copy of your assignment safe.
Critically assess an infection control practice or procedure in your work area.
Synthesising your infection control knowledge, safety and cost effectiveness & where appropriate, the need to respect cultural values –
Make recommendations to improve practice.
Describe how you will implement and evaluate these changes and take appropriate action.
Essay Structure
As you will be aware from the lecture, using the following structure , is a requirement and will enable you to address the requirements of the essay, and ensure you attend to each aspect of a critical evaluation which is what the essay requires. Using the required structure will draw together your ideas and recommendations and develop a coherent and logical argument.
INTRODUCTION
Provides a clear overview of why the improvement project was needed that conveys to the reader the direction the assignment will take.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
The aims/rationale of critical evaluation are clearly described. This section mounts a convincing argument for the intervention. Initial audit/observation against a known standard, guidance or the literature. Includes detail of the assessment of practice or procedure that could be undertaken. Gaps and weaknesses are clearly identified. Other factors such as staffing and resources, project team if required, brief history of current practices and workplace readiness for this improvement is discussed.
The standard, guideline and literature that the practice etc is being measured against is clearly identified, with details of points of difference, accurately cited and referenced
STRATEGY
The improvement strategy (intervention) that focuses on the identified gaps and weaknesses, is explained. Discussion and analysis of stakeholders, engagement, implementation strategy for the intervention, analysis of barriers and obstacles and communication strategies are outlined and justified
EVALUATION
Demonstrates understanding of how the intervention could be evaluated or measured, includes discussion of evaluation method, clearly identifying what the intervention is being measured against. Evaluation method reflects the aims and objectives of the project.
CONCLUSION
Summarises and draws together the findings and outcomes of the project
There are another 20% of the marks taking the total to 100 for the quality of your evidence and expression.
A step-by-step guide to answering and writing an essay question:
Referencing style
APA 7 is recommended for this essay.
It is essential to be consistent through your paper.